Rajput Painting - Bundi or Hadoti Style of Paintings

The Hada Rajput rulers of Bundi and their collateral branch at Kota were enlightened patrons of art. The Bundi or Hadoti School of paintings began under Rao Chattar Sal (1631-1659 AD), who was made the Governor of Delhi by Shah Jahan. The Bundi artists had their own standards of feminine beauty. A typical Bundi-Kota miniature has graceful women with round faces, receding fore-heads and shins, strong noses, full cheeks, lotus petal eyes, sharp eyebrows and well formed bodies. The figures are often placed in the background of plants and evergreen forests, along with elephants, lions, tigers and wild boars. The Bhagwad Purana paintings belong to this period. This form of painting developed further during the long reign of Raja Ummed Singh (1749-1771 AD) and gave rise to a class of Indian paintings called the Ragamala and Baramasa paintings. These paintings depict the moods and sentiments of man and woman, the twelve seasons, and thirty six Ragas and Raginis, linked to the seasons, times of the day, and the mood of the moment. The artisans also integrated romance and mythology in these paintings. These paintings depict love, separation and union in a most beautiful form. Under Bishen Singh (1771-1821 AD), hunting and wild animals became the favourite subjects. These paintings came under the western influence during the reign of Ram Singh (1828-1866 AD).